Director and Staff

An Introduction Letter

Greetings from Notre Dame!

Thank you for your interest in the Master of Divinity (M.Div.) Program. Professional ministry in the Catholic Church continues to expand and develop in new and exciting ways. Our graduates, lay and ordained, serve with competence and enthusiasm in a wide variety of settings, parishes, dioceses, universities, schools, hospitals, prisons, and social service agencies. They also work with people from a diverse array of ages, religious traditions, and cultural heritages.

The University of Notre Dame has made a generous commitment to support all of our ministry students with full tuition scholarships for their three years in the program, a financial award valued at over $110,000. In many other ways, our students also benefit from the resources and opportunities of this world-class university. Most importantly, our students immerse themselves in the riches of the theological tradition under the guidance of a renowned faculty.

In the holistic approach of our M.Div., academic excellence is complemented with pastoral skill and spiritual formation. Through field education placements concurrent with all three years of the program, students are mentored by experienced ministers in a broad array of community settings. Ministerial identity and spirituality are cultivated in the Lay Ministry Formation Program and, for seminarians of the Congregation of Holy Cross, at Moreau Seminary. Numerous events draw students together to meet the challenges of collaborative service in a multicultural world. Overall, the M.Div. Program provides a solid and comprehensive preparation for ministry in today’s Church.

Prepared to preach, to lead, and to nurture the faith of others, our students have a 100% placement rate upon graduation. For those who are called to a life of ministry, needs and opportunities abound!

Please consider joining us on this adventure in faith. Be assured of our prayers as you seek to discern Christ’s call in your life.

Program Directors

Fr. Michael Heintz, Ph.D.
Director of the M.Div. Program

He is a priest of the Diocese of Fort Wayne - South Bend and rector of St. Matthew Cathedral in South Bend. Ordained in 1993, he received his PhD in Patristics from the University of Notre Dame in 2008. He teaches both undergraduate and graduate course in Theology and is currently completing a translation of Origen's Homilies on the Psalms for inclusion in the Fathers of the Church series published by Catholic University of America Press, and hopes to begin work on a monograph on theological method in the early Church.

Janice M. Poorman, Ph.D.
Director, Formation and Field Education

She received her B.S., Southern Illinois University, 1976; M.A., University of Notre Dame, 1988; Ph.D., University of Notre Dame, 1996 (1997). Janice Poorman can be reached at (574) 631-6493. For more information on the Field Education Program, send us an email

Stacey Noem, M.Div.
Director, Human and Spiritual Formation

Stacey directs human and spiritual formation for lay candidates for ministry. She came from our sister Holy Cross institution, the University of Portland in Oregon where she served for 7 years in Campus Ministry as Assistant Director of Faith Formation. In 2010 she was elected to the Executive Board of the Catholic Campus Ministry Association. A former Jesuit Volunteer in Alaska, she has worked extensively with JVC:NW and PACE on community formation and development. She and her husband write the invited blog, Happily Even After for the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops’ website, ForYourMarriage.org. http://foryourmarriage.org/marriage-resources/news-blogs/happily-even-after/

Fr. Peter Jarret, C.S.C.
Rector, Moreau Seminary

He is rector and religious superior at the Moreau Seminary of the Congregation of Holy Cross. Email Father Peter to discuss questions of vocation to the ordained ministry which may be part of your consideration of the M.Div. program. If you are interested in ordained Ministry, contact the Congregation of Holy Cross at:

He is religious superior of the St. Joseph House of Theology with the Missionaries of the Holy Spirit. Email Father Lucio to discuss questions of vocation to the ordained ministry which may be part of your consideration of the M.Div. program.

If you are interested in ordained Ministry, contact the Missionaries of the Holy Spirit at:
Director of Vocations
Ph. Number: (574) 855-4041
House Address: 415 N Brookfield St. South Bend, IN 46628
E-mail: mspstheologate@gmail.com